Located just outside of Cusco is the Sacred Valley, a beautiful valley that has been producing corn, potatoes, and many other foods for the Inca people and now the residents of Cusco and Peru. The majority of the people are poor farmers that make a living cultivating the land by hand and selling what they can grow and make at the local markets. Our group, 5 tourists, a guide, and our taxi driver all piled into a single taxi, which has a legal occupancy of 4 people (Good thing the cops will look the other way if you speak their language $). Our first destination was the little village of Chinchero. This was a really small town that had some nice rustic Inca ruins, however the most impressive part of the town was the Catholic church that sits on top of the ruins. This church was painted from head to toe, and the people were packed in giving offerings and praise. On Sunday´s all the locals walk to the local markets, some walk the majority of the day just to get to the market in time to exchange some of the goods they have for things they need. This market was quite small, but it fit in nicely to the city.

Our next stop were the Salt Terreces, located above the city of Urubamba. These terreces capture and dry the water that comes out of a spring in the mountain that is very high in salt content. The most amazing part of these terreces is the fact that the spring that feeds all of these terreces is small enough to take a step over, and the people have been

harvesting salt here since the time of the Inca´s. After the hike through the terreces we found ourselves in the city of Urubamba, ate an amazingly huge local meal, then started off to our next location, Ollantaytambo. This cobble stone city is amazing. Almost the entire city is located on the very foundation that the Inca´s laid down.

On top of the hill overlooking the town is an old temple and even the house were the Inca would stay still had running water into it. Very amazing! We made our way through Ollantaytambo very quickly because we were in a hurry to get to the last destination, Pisac. On Sunday´s Pisac has the largest market in the area as well as some amazing ruins. Our driver drove like crazy to reach there before the sun went down, dodging cows, cars, dogs, and people. Even though he drove like a mad man, we got to Pisac at 6 pm. The same time the market closes and 15 minutes before the sun sets. We drove up to the ruins but were able to see about 10 feet in front of us. I was quite dissapointed that we did not make it to Pisac in time, but it is hard to complain about something like that when the rest of the day was perfect.

I wish I was still there with you! Have fun rafting this weekend, love you.

written by
Erin Carlson
on
January 25, 2007

The salt flats look amazing. Thanks for sharing!

written by
emily naber
on
January 29, 2007

HI Shawn! I'm ENJOYING YOUR WHOLE BLOG!Wow what a great experience, fabulous stories and beautiful photos! I head to Peru on May 20 so Em passed on your site! THIS makes me even MORE excited to make the trip and especially the MP CLIMB! AWESOME!!!! How sweet that you and Erin could do that together! I too am excited to hear what your new #1 on your list is??!!